Carbon offsets condemned by academic

Better policy options available to all governments, says Jaccard

Noted academic Mark Jaccard gave the province’s carbon tax a
passing grade during an Earth Day panel this week, but he refused to endorse
Whistler’s strategy to become carbon neutral through the purchase of offsets.

“I’ve become very negative about carbon neutrality, and it’s
because of offsets,” Jaccard said in response to a question by Whistler Mayor
Ken Melamed. “It allows us to think we’re taking action when, in fact, we’re
increasing emissions.”

Jaccard said creative policy design should take the place of
offset purchasing. He then suggested Whistler Council consider letting only
environmentally friendly cars park in resort lots.

Policy was the focus of Jaccard’s talk, which was organized by
the Whistler Forum and hosted by Quest University in Squamish.
Globe and
Mail
columnist Jeffrey Simpson joined
Jaccard — who advised the province on its carbon tax policy — for a two-hour
session that saw both men speak on climate change before taking questions from
the audience. Jaccard, Simpson and Nic Rivers co-wrote last year’s
Hot
Air: Meeting Canada’s Climate Change Challenge
.

According to Jaccard, there are a variety of policy options
available to governments serious about fighting climate change. However,
politically safe options, like information and subsidy programs, are
non-compulsory and, therefore, ineffective. What’s truly required, he said, is
compulsory legislation, things like building codes and disincentives, which is
how he categorized the carbon tax.

“There’s a white knight in this story,” Jaccard said, “and it’s
the last person I ever thought would be a white knight — it’s (premier) Gordon
Campbell.”

Jaccard said he was long a critic of Campbell’s, but the
government’s commitment to a carbon tax won him over.

“For whatever reason, Gordon Campbell, I now believe, is
sincere,” he said. “Because these policies are real policies with real
political risks.”

The political instability the tax could represent has made
British Columbia a case study for other North American jurisdictions pondering
similar measures, said Simpson.

“What happens here politically will be very carefully studied,”
he said, adding that if Campbell’s majority suffers in a significant way
because of the tax, other governments will not likely adopt it.

At the same time, there has never been so much political
posturing devoted to climate change, and Simpson said that’s not likely to
change. He referenced campaign literature printed by the Stephen Harper
Conservatives in which climate change warranted only two sentences. Now, the
government has committed to reducing emissions by 20 per cent in the next 12
years, a commitment Simpson said would be “inconceivable” from past Conservative
governments.

“So I’m saying to you that the political marketplace has
changed on the importance of this issue and the desirability of various actors
in the marketplace to seem credible on this issue.”

Jaccard agreed, saying North American society is moving towards
a tipping point that will produce better and better policy actions.